For anybody and everybody: Stockport’s SpaceInvader-designed Stockroom is a space for all.

This article first appeared as part of Mix Interiors issue #240

Photography: Courtesy of Stockport Council

“Stockport is the new Berlin” goes the bold statement from the equally bold Manchester-based DJ, Luke Una. Tote bags emblazoned ‘Stockport isn’t Shit’ are seen clamped under arms in and around the town’s historic precinct.

According to its local authority, Stockport is one of the most economically polarised boroughs in England, representing some of the least and most deprived areas. Its image is mixed. Lately, however, Stopfordians have railed against some of the more negative ideas of their beloved hometown – which has, in recent years, become something of a cultural hotspot, offering more in the way of entertainment than a trundle down to the Hat Museum or doughnuts around The Plaza.

Hip listening bars, independent traders and activations by way of ‘Stock Parties’ have begun to distinguish Stockport’s high streets, making use of previously unloved spaces and enticing much-needed engagement from locals and day-trippers alike. Tucked within the space-age structure of Merseyway Shopping Centre, Stockroom is the latest addition to the fold.

Intent on modernising public services (and challenging sceptics), Stockport Council first approached SpaceInvader in 2020 to consider a graphic installation for the public throughway, Adlington Walk, where AEW Architects was onboarded to replan the surrounding services. Snowballing into a bid for the Future High Street Fund – a government urban regeneration grant – the design team was awarded £14.5 million to transform the Walk’s adjoining retail units into an accessible public library and cultural hub, which would serve to bridge the wealth gap in the divided town.

Upon entry, vinyl stickers reading ‘For Anybody and Everybody’ smatter Stockroom’s frontage and walls, siphoning pedestrians from all walks of life off the street and into a playfully stickered open space. Illuminated lightboxes and murals by local design duo, Mike Sian Studio, energise to create a dynamic brand identity, confronting age-old stereotypes of community centres being dimly lit function rooms, lacking in personality. Instead, a splashy use of pink, green and yellow is offset by a graphic smiling face – Stockroom’s merry mascot overseeing effective design for connection.

Beneath the central staircase, custom engineered by AEW, Mercado at Stockroom dishes out South American-inspired bites and hot drinks, where reading enclaves and exhibition spaces exist intuitively on the wider floorplate. Book-filled ply units, and seating clusters – low-slung and arranged for communion – define zones but remain unfixed to move with Stockroom’s diverse events programme.

Making a space that was easily convertible was a key aspect of the design, SpaceInvader’s Studio Operations Director and Lead Designer Sarah Dabbs explains. From Qi Gong and photographic societies to theatre productions and ‘Brutalist Banquets’, it was important that the lower level bent and stretched to a variety of events and clubs, with castor-mounted, lightweight FF&E allowing for effortless reconfiguration.

To democratise the design and encourage dwell-time, Stockroom’s interiors had to be enmeshed in Stockport itself. “Simply recreating Stockroom somewhere else would be to misunderstand the real reason it’s such a success,” Dabbs muses. “It is not because it contains a list of guaranteed ingredients, but rather because its ingredients are designed to be ever evolving in response to Stockport’s specific needs.” Nodding to the industriousness of Stockport red brick, rust-coloured soldier tiles defend the café counter where, adjacent, giant metallic letters spelling ‘Cool Like You’ pay tribute to the 2018 studio album by native indie rockers, Blossoms.

Enclosed on three sides, the children’s library occupies a space opposite the café and centres around a climbable treehouse structure, designed by Easy Peel Studios. For messy play, recycled plastic surfaces are by Plastic Shed – a Community Benefit Society providing opportunities for residents to collect plastic waste, which is then turned into colourful, easy-to-clean tabletops.

Off to the side, a story time section is a quieter spot dedicated to reading, characterised by two caped ‘cuddle chairs’ – wide enough to fit a child and caregiver – and a peg board which allows children to dream up their own narratives through word- and picture-based wooden tablets. Tiny geometric elephants form a protective circle under a sound-deadening halo of preserved moss.

Acoustics were a major consideration throughout, given the multifunctionality of the space and residual noise from an upper-level car park. Ducting and steel I-beams, exposed to relieve a restricted ceiling height, have been sprayed with a mushed-up paper concoction by Acosorb to ensure audio comfort – blueish grey at ground level; a peach fuzz on the second floor.

A serene-feeling work and study territory, upstairs houses more traditional library amenities, including banks of computers, upholstered private pods and shared desk space. Branching off, an archive of Stockport-centric documentation is viewable by appointment only, and a hireable events space spills out onto the precinct’s concrete verandas. During the planning phase, SpaceInvader liaised with the council to decide what administration Stockroom could offer and which would remain in the Grade II-listed town hall. Dabbs comments, “Some of the early conversations were ‘could you register the birth of a child and sign up for the library at the same time? Get IT help? Or could you look for a new job?’”. The good news: Stockroom visitors can do all the above, that’s before getting their hands dirty at a gardening club or attending a Women in Creativity talk.

A rich heritage, changing attitudes, arts, culture and music: there are many similarities that could be drawn between today’s Stockport and the German capital. Though a bit of a stretch to claim the northern town as the ‘new Berlin’, thanks to Stockroom, some savvy inclusive design and the coming together of people under one roof, its days of being badmouthed may be numbered.